Partners for life

10 times more opposite-sex couples than same-sex couples formed a civil partnership last year

MORE than 7,500 couples took the opportunity to form an opposite-sex civil partnership in the first year they were available. Civil partnerships were introduced for same-sex couples in December 2005.

Fourteen years later, oppositesex couples won the right to have a civil partnership instead of a marriage, with 171 formed in December 2019.

That was followed by the 7,566 opposite-sex civil partnerships formed in England and Wales in 2020.

Meanwhile, there were just 785 civil partnerships formed between same-sex couples in England and Wales in 2020 - the lowest number recorded since they were introduced in 2005.

Since March 2014, same-sex couples have been able to get married - the most recent figures show there were 6,925 marriages in 2018.

The change in law allowing all couples the option of either marriage or a civil partnership came about as the result of a campaign by Equal Civil Partnerships.

Part of this was a legal challenge by Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, who launched a judicial review after being refused a civil partnership at their local registry office in London in October 2014.

While they lost at the High Court and Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in June 2018 that the Government’s refusal to allow opposite sex couples to have civil partnerships was ‘incompatible’ with human rights law.

During the same period, MP Tim Loughton introduced a Private Members Bill in parliament, which would allow opposite-sex couples to enter into a civil partnership.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, the Government announced it would change the law to allow opposite-sex civil partnerships.

Mr Loughton amended his Bill to give a six month deadline to opening up civil partnerships to all couples if it passed, which it did in March 2019. The regulations allowing ceremonies to take place were approved in October 2019.

When the new law came into force, allowing ceremonies from December 31, 2019, Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan were among the first couples to form a civil partnership.

Those entering opposite-sex civil partnerships last year tended to be older - the median age was 58.9 years for men and 56.3 years for women. For same-sex couples, it was 49.8 years and 50.1 years respectively.

Less than one in five (19%) of those entering a same-sex civil partnership were aged 65 years and over, in contrast, 29% of those entering an opposite-sex civil partnership were aged 65 years and over.